The present invention relates to folded, absorbent incontinence articles of the open type for incontinent adults, and to a method for folding absorbent incontinence articles.
DE-102005035544-A1 already describes an incontinence article with material sections, often also referred to as diaper wings, attached to the lateral edges of the main part, said material sections having closing elements in the edge section, the diaper wings being folded onto themselves about at least two fold lines and turned in onto the side of the main part which faces the body, in order to form an arrangement turned in on itself which is detachably fastened at a first joining point.
EP-1005316-B1 describes the z-shaped folding of the diaper wings of a diaper of the open type, in which first the outer end of the wings is folded back by at least the width of the closing surface and subsequently folded back in this configuration toward the front by the double width of the closing surface, such that the closing elements in this folded configuration are not covered by any layer of material and are instantly visible to the user.
EP-1166735-B1 also describes a z-shaped or inverted z-shaped folding of the rear diaper wings, the first fold inward being onto the chassis of the diaper and the free end of the lateral part subsequently being folded outward once or multiple times in such a way that said free end faces outward in the folded state and is easily unfolded when applying the diaper—particularly to persons confined to a bed.
WO-2005/110321-A1 describes the folding of absorbent sanitary articles along first and second longitudinal fold lines such that the outer edges of the diaper wings project beyond the fold line such that the folded article is easy to unfold, since the outer edge having the closing elements is directly reachable.
WO-2007/058761-A1 describes the manufacture of absorbent sanitary articles with separately attached diaper wings at high machine speeds without the article or the closing elements being inadvertently crumpled or folded, by performing a folding which protects the diaper wings and the closing elements. For this purpose, the diaper wing, which has a closing element on its inward facing side in the applied state, is turned over about a longitudinal axis onto the inside of the chassis and subsequently the entire lateral part is turned over onto the chassis about a second longitudinal axis, the second fold width being at least as wide as the first, such that the first section turned inward is not once again folded by the second folding.
DE-102004021353-A1 discloses an absorbent incontinence article with a main part, consisting of a front section, a back section and a crotch section which lies in the longitudinal direction between the front and back sections and is intended to be placed between the legs of a user, the main part having an absorbent body, and with rear material sections attached to the back section and with front material sections attached to the front section, the rear and front material sections extending in the transverse direction beyond lateral longitudinal edges of the main part, the material sections having, in the applied state, on the side facing the body an inside and, in the applied state, on the side facing away from the body an outside, and the rear material sections having closing elements on an outer edge section of the rear material sections, the rear and front material sections connecting the front section and the back section to one another in the applied state of the article, and the material sections being folded onto themselves and inward onto the side of the back section of the main part facing the body prior to use of the folded-together article.
Based on this prior art, the problem with the folded incontinence articles is that the proportion of products not conforming to specifications increases at high production speeds in the manufacturing process. Not conforming to specifications refers to products which do not meet the requirements determined by the manufacturer with respect to the quality of the products. Product quality is compromised at increased production speeds in that the closing elements attached to the folded diaper wings are unintentionally opened during production. In the event that the incontinence article containing the folded diaper wings and the unintentionally opened closing elements is longitudinally and/or transversely folded in the next production step, the opened or partially opened closing element will come in contact with other material layers of the incontinence article and thus is unintentionally fastened on them. This leads to the incontinence article not being able to be unfolded in the usual manner and to the closing elements, in certain circumstances, no longer being usable according to an intended fastening method. If suchlike incontinence articles were not removed from the production process, the unintentional fastening would be further strengthened in the subsequent packing under pressure of the incontinence articles, such that products like these would become unusable, as they can no longer be properly opened and applied.